Is The Last Starfighter 2 Still Happening, Or Is It Game Over?

Look, I know what you're thinking: "'The Last Starfighter 2'? What dried-up, over-the-hill Gen-Xers and Millennials still drunk on '80s nostalgia are clinging to the hope of that ever coming to pass?" Actually, you know what, I apologize, that's a bad faith take. You didn't click on this article just to make fun of "Last Starfighter" fans for grasping at straws. You're here because, unlike those know-it-alls, you're aware that "The Last Starfighter 2" is surprisingly close to becoming a real thing.

For those who are feeling a little like Cousin Greg on "Succession" learning about Nero and Sporus right now, allow me to bring you up to speed. Released in 1984, "The Last Starfighter" centers on Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), a teenager who spends his free time losing himself in video games as a way of countering his disillusionment with his seemingly go-nowhere trailer park existence. (And yes, this film was a major inspiration for "Ready Player One.") However, everything changes when Alex learns that his favorite arcade game, "Starfighter," is secretly a training module used for recruiting individuals like himself for an intergalactic conflict.

Like other cult classics, "The Last Starfighter" did middling business at the box office on its way to attracting a much bigger audience on home media. It's notable for other reasons, too, like how it was directed by Nick Cave (the same one who played Michael Myers in John Carpenter's original "Halloween") in addition to being one of the first films to make heavy use of CGI just a couple of years after another cult '80s sci-fi hit, "TRON." And much like that flick would have to wait 28 years before getting a sequel, "The Last Starfighter 2" is taking far longer to get off the ground than its fanbase would like.

"The Last Starfighter" has left a fairly sizable cultural footprint over the decades, spawning multiple video games and even an off-Broadway stage musical adaptation. Despite this, the actual screen rights to the property have proven rather slippery, so much so that even Seth Rogen and Steven Spielberg once struggled to lock them down. The reason being? It appears the rights have been retained by the original film's screenwriter, Jonathan R. Betuel, who was uninterested in making either a reboot or a sequel back when those heavy-hitters were circling the property.

Assuming that's accurate, Betuel has since changed his tune. In 2020, he confirmed he's been toiling away on a "Last Starfighter" sequel with "The Book of Eli," "After Earth," and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" scribe Gary Whitta. Of course, Whitta himself had already spilled the beans a couple of years earlier, having tweeted out concept art developed for the project by "Rogue One" lead concept artist Matt Allsopp. (There was also talk of a "Last Starfighter" TV show back in the 2010s, but Betuel has since dismissed that as a rumor only.)

The last major update we got on "The Last Starfighter 2" was in 2021, when Whitta posted a sizzle reel revealing the film's semi-official title: "The Last Starfighters." He's since indicated "there's a decent chance it never happens" on social media (via ComicBook.com), adding, "But if it doesn't, it won't be for the lack of effort on my and Jon's part." One suspects cost is a major factor, as the sequel would most likely require a nine-figure budget in this day and age. That and the question of whether there's really that much pent-up demand for a continuation of "The Last Starfighter" nearly 40 years later.

Cult classics are a precarious thing to try and cash in on. As passionate as we film nerds are about, say, "The Thing" and "Blade Runner," they've never fully crossed over into the mainstream — something studios learned the hard way when they revived those franchises to disappointing box office returns. Even "TRON," a property that a lot of people have absorbed via osmosis thanks to its presence in other media (like the "Kingdom Hearts" video games), has struggled to fully take off since its revival, despite having the full might of Disney behind it.

No doubt, this is part of why Betuel and Whitta have fashioned "The Last Starfighter 2" to function as a fresh introduction as much as a legacy sequel. Here's how Betuel described it to Moviehole in 2020:

"The leads are now parents and time has passed. It's not a remake, it's going to continue the story. What's changed is time itself, certainly, as the video world and the alien world have continued to tick away. It's not a time capsule of the '80s by any means, we're taking it to the next level. Passing the torch ... or the joystick."

He also noted the sequel "won't presuppose that you've seen the original film. There'll be references here and there, but it'll carry the saga forward." As for the power fantasy at the heart of "The Last Starfighter"? Betuel believes that will never go out of style. "People still dream. People still long to be a hero in their own life and to those they love, whether their methodology is the same or different," as he put it. Perhaps those still holding out hope for the sequel will find some small comfort in his words.